Roads Not Taken
by Scott Washburn
Summary: Were the events we see in Avatar inevitable? Could they have been changed? Read and see!


Roads Not Taken

By Scott Washburn

"Jake, there's less than two months left," said Dr. Grace Augustine. "The bulldozers will reach Hometree in fifty-eight days. You have to start talking to Neytiri about this." She stared at where Jake Sully was hastily shoveling food into his mouth. The rays of the rising sun were streaming in through the shack's windows and painting the interior a bright orange color. The stunning beauty of the Halleluiah Mountains was something Grace never tired of, but today her attention was focused on the young ex-marine on whom the hopes of… well, the hopes of just about everyone, whether they knew it or not, rested. Her opinion of the man had changed steadily as she got to know him better. He wasn't stupid, he wasn't a 'trigger-happy moron' like she'd first feared. As a genetic twin to his PhD-carrying brother, he had to have the same intellectual potential. He'd simply followed a different path.

"And just what do you expect me to say to her, Doc?" said Jake, pausing with a fork in front of his face. "Oh, by the way, my friends are coming to destroy your home. You don't mind moving do you?" He snorted. "She'd probably cut my throat then and there."

"I know it isn't going to be easy, but you know what's at stake: if we can't get them to move, Selfridge will give Quaritch the green light to use force. How much restraint do you think our dear Colonel will show once he's given the chance to use his toys?"

"None at all," growled Jake. "I served under a guy like him in Venezuela: itching for a fight, itching to roll out the big guns. But hell, I'm no diplomat! I got Mo'at to let you come back to the Hometree, why don't _you_ talk to them?"

Grace's eyes fell and she clenched her fists. "I can't," she said quietly.

"But why not? You've known these people for years. I've only known them for five weeks!"

"Neytiri hasn't told you?"

"Told me what?"

Grace let out a long sigh and rubbed at her eyes to hide the tears that started welling in them despite all she could do. "Haven't you ever wondered why the School was shut down? Why me and all the other avatars have been banned from Hometree?"

"Yeah, I guess I have. What happened?"

"Neytiri never mentioned to you that she had a younger sister?"

Jake froze, the fork forgotten in his hand. He shook his head.

"Well, she did. And she's dead now. And it's my fault." The pain which she'd tried to bury for so long surged up and found its way into her words. God, it still hurt so much! The School. She had poured so much of herself into the School, pinned so much hope on it. When it had failed and failed so disastrously, a part of her had died that day just like poor Silwanin.

"What… what happened?" whispered Jake. There was no privacy in the tiny research shack and Norm had come up behind him, eyes wide. Trudy shook her head sadly and turned away. She already knew.

Grace reached over to the refrigerator and pulled off one of the photos stuck there. It showed herself surrounded by smiling Na'vi students. It had been taken in happier times, but only weeks before the disaster. She handed it to Jake and pointed. "That's her. That's Silwanin standing next to Neytiri."

Jake stared at it for a long time. "I should have noticed the resemblance. Neytiri's never said a thing about her."

"They were very close. Silwanin was so curious, such a delight to teach. If I'd only…" She bit her lower lip and shook her head.

"Grace, what _happened_?" asked Jake.

"It's a long story. You know that the Omaticaya aren't the only Na'vi clan in the region, don't you?"

"I figured there must be others, but no one's told me anything about them."

"Well, when they—that is, we humans—decided to build a base on Pandora they wanted a spot with a lot of unobtainium, but they didn't want to get into conflict with the Na'vi. I don't know if that was just a practical decision—we would have been pretty vulnerable in the early days of the base—or a genuine desire for peace. That decision was made before I ever got here. But anyway, there was a small clan in the area that's now Hell's Gate, they were called the Najinto. I think they must have been a group that splintered off from some other larger clan. It happens sometimes when a clan outgrows its hometree. The Najinto were only about a hundred strong and hadn't been in this area very long. They hadn't even established a hometree of their own. Even so, they weren't happy when the RDA showed up and started its mine in their back yard and skirmishes broke out almost immediately. There weren't enough of the Najinto to pose a serious threat, but there were casualties on both sides.

"When I arrived a few years later to take over the Avatar program, one of our primary goals was to make peace with the Najinto. At that time the Omaticaya weren't even on our radar screen. There were no plans to open up a new mine under Hometree yet and they were over fifty klicks away so we pretty much ignored each other. But the problem was that the Najinto wouldn't even talk to us. Too much blood had been spilled already. It was a shoot-on-sight situation. A couple of our avatars got wounded just trying to make contact. All I could think to do was try to find some sort of intermediaries. The Omaticaya were the next closest clan so I made contact with them. They were wary, but not hostile. I managed to become friends with them to the point that our avatars could come and go and visit with them. But when I asked Eytukan if he would act as an emissary to the Najinto, he refused. He made it clear that he was none too happy with what the RDA was doing and his sympathies lay entirely with the Najinto. He still didn't really trust the Sky People."

"He might have worried that the same thing might happen to the Omaticaya," said Norm.

"And he was right," said Jake.

"Yes," said Grace. "Yes, he's a smart cookie. But that left me in a bind. I still needed a channel to the Najinto. And, as Parker Selfridge would say, I needed some sort of carrot to offer them once I did make contact. I puzzled over it for a long time and I finally settled on building a school for the Omaticaya. It would allow us to study them and it would let them get to know us. My hope was that as time passed a bond of trust would develop. Once the Omaticaya were truly friends, maybe they would help us make contact with the Najinto. I hoped that once we could get a cease fire, the allure of the school might even draw in the Najinto. I got RDA approval—this was before Selfridge and Quaritch were here—and built the school. I had hoped that we could build it well away from the base, but for cost and security reasons I was forced to build it as an annex to the existing avatar compound at Hell's Gate—my first mistake.

"Initially things went well. The natural curiosity of the Na'vi was enough to overcome their caution and Eytukan and Mo'at allowed a dozen or so of their young people—including their own daughters—to come to the school. Three years went by and we were making good progress. Even Mo'at was attending English classes. But Selfridge was in charge by then and demanding that I move faster with dealing with the Najinto problem. That's when I made my second mistake. I didn't think it was time yet to approach Eytukan again, so I told my troubles to Silwanin and Neytiri. Silwanin was such a dreamer! She was interested in everything about the Sky People. She was determined to help me—and I didn't refuse her help." Grace stopped talking and bowed her head. She'd replayed that day in her mind a thousand times. If only she'd just said no. Thanks but no thanks. But she'd been under pressure and it didn't seem like it would do any harm and maybe, just maybe… _No, no more excuses. The road to Hell is truly paved with good intentions, but it was still my fault._

A hand touched her arm and she jerked in surprise when she saw that it was Jake's. He'd rolled his wheelchair over next to her. The look on his face was unlike any she'd ever seen on him. She took a breath and nodded at him and patted his hand. "Well, a month went by and I had nearly forgotten the incident. Then one day Silwanin shows up for school and she has a Na'vi boy a little younger than her in tow. A Najinto boy, called Mat'ao. I should have sent him packing, sent him back to his people as fast as his legs would carry him. But I was too excited by the opportunity. I let him stay. My next mistake. Silwanin said that she'd just found Mat'ao by chance, but I knew she had gone out deliberately looking for someone she could bring to the school. She just wanted help her 'Aunt Grace'. And I knew he must have come without the permission or probably even the knowledge of the Najinto. I should have sent him away, but I didn't. Damn, I was such an idiot!

"A week passed and then two. Mat'ao came every morning and was learning fast. My hopes were climbing that he could be my opening with the Najinto. But then it all went to Hell. The Najinto caught on to what was happening and sent a war party to get back the boy. I had forced Quaritch to deactivate the automated defenses around the entrance to the avatar compound to avoid any possible accidents with the Omaticaya coming and going. There were no human sentries, just a pair of avatars to keep a lookout for dangerous animals. Well, the Najinto seriously wounded both of them and broke right into the compound before we were even aware. Of course, Quaritch still had surveillance cameras in operation so his security people came busting in from the other side within minutes. There was a firefight and Silwanin was caught in the crossfire. No, not caught in it. She ran right in between the lines waving her arms and screaming for everyone to stop. She was killed instantly." Grace could still feel the hot blood flowing over her hands as she cradled Silwanin's body in her arms…

"Sweet Jesus," whispered Norm.

"The Najinto war party was wiped out. Mat'ao was killed with them. And it was all my fault." Grace stared out the window refusing to meet their eyes.

The shack was silent for several very long minutes until Jake finally stirred. "Neytiri never said anything about this. I… I'm amazed that Eytukan and Mo'at didn't declare open war right there."

"They probably would have," said Trudy, who had drifted closer. "Except there was a Najinto arrow in Silwanin as well as RDA bullets. They probably couldn't decide who to declare war against."

Grace slowly nodded. "Mo'at and Eytukan never said a word to me, never even looked at me, when they came to collect her. They no longer saw me. I didn't exist to them anymore. The Omaticaya students left and never returned and Tsu'tey delivered a message that we were no longer welcome at Hometree. That was four years ago."

"Crap," said Jake. "Why the hell did they even agree to let _me_ stay?"

"They had never seen you before," answered Grace. "Every avatar here was known to them and we were all tainted. That's why… Jake, that's why I was so pissed when I got you instead of your brother. The last hope I had left was Tom and Norm. They were new, unknown to the Omaticaya. Maybe they could find a way back in." She smiled in spite of herself. "I never dreamed you'd find a way back in so fast."

"But what the hell do you expect me to _do_?" demanded Jake.

"I don't know!" cried Grace in exasperation. "This isn't even the situation I was trying to solve! The Najinto clan leader was killed that day along with most of their warriors. What was left of the clan fled and we only get raided by tiny parties still looking for revenge now. Quaritch and Selfridge were _pleased_ with the results! But now, now everything has changed—except for the fact that the Omaticaya will never trust me again. They may have let me come back to Hometree, but they will never see me. I _can't_ negotiate with them. Somehow you have to get them to move or there's going to be another massacre!"

[Scene Break]

Jake stared at Grace in consternation. This was getting way too complicated! Coming to Pandora and driving an avatar was one thing, acting as security for the science geeks was another, scouting the Na'vi for the Colonel wasn't even that bad: it was exactly the sort of thing he had trained for as a recon Marine. But being a negotiator? Keeping the peace? When Selfridge ordered him to find a carrot, he'd gotten the distinct impression that he and Quaritch were only expecting him to go through the motions, just to allow them to tell their own bosses that they had tried to avoid bloodshed. But this! Grace was expecting him to actually succeed! "Uh… the guys in the suits back on Earth didn't say anything about this, Grace. I don't think it's in my job description."

Grace fixed her eyes on him. "Jake, you are the last chance we have to avoid a war. I thought you said that you were coming to like the Na'vi."

"Well, sure. I like most of them a lot. I mean Tsu'tey's a jerk and Mo'at's pretty damn scary and Neytiri is a slave-driver, but most of them are cool. They were kind of leery of me at first, but most are getting friendly, especially the kids." He had answered automatically, but he was surprised to realize that he really meant what he'd said. He _did_ like them. There was a straightforward honesty about them that was incredibly refreshing compared to dealing with humans. And they looked out for each other. It was the same sort of close-knit comradeship that he'd loved about being a Marine—and missed so much now.

"Then I'd hope you'd want to keep them all from getting killed. Because that's just what's going to happen unless we can find a way to prevent it."

Jake grimaced. "Okay, I'll try talking to Neytiri today. " He glanced out at the sun. "But I got to get linked up or she'll give me hell about oversleeping again." He pushed himself away from the table and headed for his link capsule. Somewhat to his surprise both Norm and Trudy followed him.

"Holy shit," sighed Norm once they were out of Grace's hearing. "Never seen her like that before."

"You should have seen her the day it happened," replied Trudy. "No, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I got there just after the shooting stopped and… hell, she loved that girl like she was her own daughter. This 'cast-iron-bitch' routine she puts on now is just to cover it up."

Jake was still thinking about that when the link capsule closed…

"Jake! Wake up you Skxawng!" He opened his eyes and Neytiri was leaning over him from the branch that was holding his sleeping hammock. He glanced around and nearly all the other hammocks were empty. Late again…

He hauled himself up onto the branch beside her. "Sorry," he said. She just snorted and led the way back to the communal gathering platform in Hometree. Hundreds of Omaticaya were already there preparing the morning meal. When everyone had their food (a surprisingly tasty mix of fruit and beetle grubs) everyone paused and sang a short song. This was a song of thanks to Eywa as near as he could figure out. Jake couldn't carry a tune in a sack so he just mouthed the words and pretended to sing along. Afterwards everyone pitched in with a multitude of daily chores: cleaning up, hauling food and water and collecting firewood, tending the little children, mending and patching, a hundred things that needed to be done to keep the community running. It was just like the stuff you did in the Marines to keep a platoon running. Jake didn't mind it a bit. The people he worked with were cheerful and did their tasks with enthusiasm. His command of the language was still very sketchy, but he even made what he thought would come out as a joke and everyone around him laughed. He wasn't sure if the joke was a success or had just failed in a funny way, but he laughed along with the rest. Damn it, he _did_ like these people!

By mid-morning the chores were done and Neytiri took him out into the forest for more hunter training. He was never sure how she decided what they were going to do on any given day. Running, riding, shooting, stalking, it seemed to happen at random. Today it was mostly running and that was fine with him. It didn't require his full attention and he spent much of the time thinking about what Grace had said that morning and trying to figure out what he was going to say to Neytiri. At least he had no doubt that the place to start was with her. Going directly to Eytukan or Mo'at was not going to work. Somehow he had to edge into this gradually.

After a few hours they finally stopped to rest and Jake steeled himself to talk to her. It felt like breaking cover and scouting into an enemy-held town. "Neytiri?"

"What?" she looked at him without much interest. She was fiddling with the strap that held her knife in place.

"Uh… Grace was telling me about the school this morning." Suddenly he had her full attention and he nearly faltered. "She… she, uh told me about your sister. I'm… I'm really sorry about that."

Neytiri was silent for a moment but then went back to her fiddling. "You were not here then. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"No, I wasn't here. I'd just started my trip to get here. But I'm still sorry. Grace is sorry, too. She never wanted that to happen."

"I know that. But what happened was still her fault. Her ignorance caused it—just like you and the nantangs. Stupid."

"We Sky People do a lot of stupid things. But most of us still mean well. Grace would never do anything to intentionally hurt the Omaticaya."

"I know this, too. That is why my father allows her back. But it can never be as it was before."

"No… no, we can never go back," said Jake. "Everything changes and there's no stopping it." He was bracing himself to say something about more changes coming, but Neytiri decided that the rest break was over. She led him up into the tree tops and that demanded his full attention for the rest of the day. There was no opportunity to renew the conversation.

During and after the evening meal he began to really study the layout of Hometree. Not the structure like he'd been doing for the Colonel, but how the Omaticaya used it, what they'd done to it to make it work as their home. As he took in the details he grew more and more depressed. This wasn't just a matter of a bunch of people climbing up into a tree. The amount of work that had been done to turn the tree into a home was incredible. It all looked so natural it was easy to think that the tree had just_ grown this way_. But it had not. It was a labor of generations and asking the Omaticaya to give it up and move… He was still thinking about it as he went to sleep.

[Scene Break]

Grace watched Jake haul himself out of the link capsule. She knew enough not to offer to help, but she winced to watch him drag the dead weight of his useless legs onto his wheelchair. "So, how'd it go today?" she asked.

"Okay, I guess. I… I talked with Neytiri about her sister a little bit. She didn't kill me or run off or anything." He pushed himself over to the other module of the shack and grabbed a drink out of the refrigerator.

Grace frowned. "Was that smart? I mean reminding her about that isn't exactly going to make her more sympathetic towards the Sky People."

"I didn't know what else to do. I guess I thought that if we could talk about one hard subject maybe it would make it easier to talk about the next one."

"Maybe. So, _did_ you talk about the next one?"

"Well, no…"

"Jake, we're running out of time."

"Is that schedule cut in stone? Can we get more time from Selfridge if we need it?" Jake was looking slightly panicked.

"I doubt it," said Grace. "The home office is demanding a major increase in unobtainium production and Selfridge's job depends on making it happen. He might give us a few more days if he thought it would make a difference, but not much more than that."

"Damn. Grace, I think we're screwed then. I mean you've seen Hometree, the amount of work that went into it. They're not going to just up and leave all that behind to please us! What can we possibly offer them to move?"

"I don't know, Jake, I just don't know." She looked up as Norm and Trudy sat down with them.

"Not finding any carrots?" asked Norm. Jake shook his head.

"Well, is there any chance we could use the _threat_ of the stick to avoid having to use the stick itself?" asked Trudy.

"What, you mean some sort of demonstration of our firepower to scare them?" said Jake.

"It's a thought," replied the young pilot. "Have Quaritch blow apart an unoccupied tree while the Na'vi watch. Let them know what's at stake. They've never really seen anything but our small stuff. They might not realize what the heavier missiles can do."

"Maybe as a last resort," said Grace skeptically. "Once we use an open threat like that, there will be no turning back."

Trudy shrugged. "From what little history I know, strong nations imposed treaties on weak nations to get what they wanted without the cost of a fight. The weak nations agreed to the treaties because they knew it would be a whole lot worse if they fought and lost. You say Eytukan is smart. Maybe he'll be smart enough to realize that, too."

"Isn't there anything we can offer them?" asked Norm. "Something to save their pride if nothing else?"

"I don't know," said Grace shaking her head. "We've given them stuff in the past, but nothing they're particularly fond of. They are already so good at making fine stone tools that our metal ones are only marginally better. They don't like them because they rust, even the stainless ones—there's something in the plant sap that causes corrosion. Pretty fabrics? They don't use much. They already make beautiful jewelry. Medicine? Well, they do see the value in that, but there aren't that many diseases that they suffer from. Weapons? They do pretty well with what they've got and Quaritch wouldn't allow that anyway."

"At the very least we could help them move, couldn't we?" asked Jake. "Help find a new tree in a good location. Hell, I don't want to see them move and then five years later find that there's more unobtainium under their new tree!"

"Yes," said Grace. "That is a good thought. In fact I'm going to call Selfridge right now. If nothing else, it will make him think we're making some progress." She grabbed one of the computers and punched in Selfridge's code at Hell's Gate. It was late, but she eventually got through to him. He looked surprised.

"Grace, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he said. "You hardly ever talk to me unless you want something." He grinned at her.

"That's right, Parker, and I want something now. Assuming we can talk the Omaticaya into moving, we can't just expect them to march off into the wilderness without a plan. The more help we can give them the more likely they are to agree."

Selfridge's eyebrows arched up. "What did you have in mind?"

"For right now I'd like you to put some people to work on finding a new tree for them. It can't be too far away, but it has to be far enough not to be disturbed by the new mine. That includes their hunting grounds around the new tree. Obviously, their new location shouldn't be some spot you'll want to dig up ten years down the road. Find a place with as little unobtainium as possible. There needs to be plenty of water nearby and plentiful game. Hell, just take a close look at what they have right now and find me a couple of alternative spots that have the same features. Can you do that, Parker?"

Selfridge twisted his face in that skeptical look that really annoyed her. "My people are all pretty busy right now, Grace…"

"Parker! Out of idle curiosity, one time I looked up just how much the missiles on Quaritch's gunships cost the corporation to buy and ship here. One load for one gunship would pay the salaries of two of your techs for a year! I'm only asking for a couple of days of their time at most! You want me to do this job—and save the price of a _lot_ of missiles—the least you can do is give me some support!"

"All right, all right, calm down, I'll put someone on it tomorrow. Can I take this to mean that there is a chance to get them to move?"

"It will be a better chance if you can find me a good spot." She cut the connection before he could respond. She looked at the others. "Well, that's step one, I guess."

"And enough for now," said Jake. "I need some rack time."

"Not until you do your video log," said Grace.

He glared at her but reached for the recorder. "And I thought Neytiri was a slave-driver," he grumbled.

[Scene Break]

Two days later Jake had the report from Selfridge. There was a possible tree about thirty klicks away. This provided several opportunities. So that morning he was linked up and awake before Neytiri. He climbed up on the branch holding her hammock and gently tugged on it until she woke up. "Hey, let's go for a ride today. A long ride."

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked at Jake in surprise. Normally she had to nag him to practice on the damn horses. "All right," she said. They got up, packed a few supplies and were off before most of the others were even awake. "Why are you in such a hurry?' she asked.

"There is a tree quite some distance away that Grace asked me to go see," he replied. The truth, but not all the truth. "It is over that way, beyond the ridges."

"If it is where I think you mean, it will take most of a day to reach it. We will not be able to get back before nightfall."

"Is that a problem? We've been out after dark before."

"No, but I do not know that area well. We must be careful. It is a shame you do not have an ikran. We could get there so much quicker."

"You said I wasn't ready yet."

"And so you are not. Come, let's ride." She ordered her horse into a brisk trot and Jake had to concentrate on hanging on to follow her. For the first half of the day Neytiri knew the trails well and they made good time. But after climbing out of the river valley that held Hometree, their pace slowed as she had to search for clear paths. Several times she found what appeared to be a good route but deliberately turned off it claiming there were signs of predators. Jake didn't see anything but did not argue. He was no stranger to Earthly jungles, but when it came to the Pandoran forest he knew that he still had a huge amount to learn.

His avatar had lost all its gear on that first day while escaping the thantor, but Grace's avatar had managed to slip him a few things when she visited Hometree. He had a tiny computer pad with a communicator and location transponder. He could use it to check their position and keep them moving in the right direction to the tree. Neytiri knew he had it, but had said nothing so far.

"What is so special about this tree?" Neytiri demanded at least ten times over the course of the day. He deflected the question by just repeating his statement that Grace wanted him to go there. Invoking Grace's name had an odd effect on Neytiri. He could see that the Na'vi woman still had respect and even affection for her former teacher, but she kept it tightly controlled. There were complex emotions boiling just below the surface that Jake could only guess at.

By late afternoon the tree was in sight. But the enormous trees could be seen from great distances, so it still took hours to get there. It might have been only thirty kilometers from Hometree in a straight line, but they had to ride much farther than that on the ground. The sun had vanished by the time they reached its base. Reflected light from Polyphemous preserved the long twilight. They cautiously explored the open area underneath the immense columns. A few animals scurried away in panic, but they found no sign of anything dangerous. "All right, we are here," said Neytiri. "I see nothing special."

Jake looked around and he didn't either. But what he didn't see was far more daunting than what he did. The place was an empty shell. There was no spiral pathway leading up, no platforms, no… _anything_ that made a tree a home. It would take an incredible amount of work.

When he didn't answer, Neytiri led the horses to a sheltered spot and tethered them there. She then climbed up, just using handholds in the bark, to where a twist in one of the inner columns had created a narrow flat space. Jake followed her up and sat next to her. She unslung her bow. "We we will have to stand a watch tonight or we will have no horses to ride back with tomorrow." They ate some of the food they had brought with them and then she stared at him. "Jake, what are we doing here?"

Okay, now or never… "Uh… Grace was telling me that sometimes when a Na'vi clan grows too big they will split off a group and that group will travel to a new area and make a new home."

"Yes, that happens sometimes. The songs tell us that the Omaticaya did that long, long ago."

"Right. Well, Grace—both of us—were curious about what it would be like to have to build a new hometree. We wanted to see an untouched tree and figure out how much work it would be. Just from looking here, I'm guessing a lot."

"There are closer trees than this one," said Neytiri, scowling. "I could have shown you one of them instead of coming all this way."

"Uh, yeah, but this one seems like it would be a really good spot. Lots of water, lots of game…"

"It would do," she said looking around.

"And… and doesn't sometimes a clan have to move because something happens to their tree? I mean there are storms and earthquakes and fires…"

"Jake, why are you saying these things?" Her gaze pinned him like a pair of arrows. His mouth opened and closed several times, but he couldn't find any words to force out. "Does this have something to do with the path the Sky People machines are cutting through the forest? The path that is pointing like a knife straight toward my home?"

"Oh, uh, you know about that, do you?"

"We are not fools, Jake," she said, her voice low and very dangerous. "We have been watching and wondering for many days. My father told me to ask you about it when the time was right. The time is now right, I think."

"That's what I'm… that's one of the reasons I'm here. There's a shitload of unobtainium—the gray rocks the Sky People dig out of the ground—underneath Hometree. The boss—the clan leader at the base—he wants me to find out what it would take to get the Omaticaya to move to a new tree so they can get the gray rocks." The words, once he found them, came out in a rush that left him breathless.

Neytiri stared at him for a long time as the night deepened around them. "You wish to create a great hole in the ground, like the one at the Sky People fortress? You would destroy my home to do this?"

"We have orders… we don't want anyone to get hurt! Neytiri!" She slid off the ledge and was down the tree before he could stop her. He tried to follow, but he was only halfway down when he heard the sound of hooves thudding away in the dark. The other horse was still there, but agitated. He made the mistake of untying it before he made the bond and it pulled away and galloped after its partner, leaving him sprawled in the dirt. He stood up and shouted. "Neytiri! Wait! We need to talk!"

There was no answer.

He stood there quite a while trying to decide what to do. He certainly wasn't going to try and find his way back to Hometree in the dark. Even in the daylight it would be pretty dangerous alone. And it would take two or three days on foot.

So he decided to cheat. He climbed back up to the perch and called the Shack on his pad. Norm answered and quickly called Grace to the screen. "Jake, what's happening? We can see you're at the tree. Did you talk to her?"

"Oh yeah. I talked and she figured out what I was asking and why. She's not stupid, you know."

"How did she react?"

"Well, I'm sitting here all by myself. That should give you a clue."

"Damn. She left you? At night?"

"She seemed pretty pissed. I don't know if she'll come back for me or if she's heading home."

"That would be risky even for her."

"She'll be okay. But there's no way I'm going to risk following her. Can Trudy come and pick me up first thing tomorrow?"

"Right. We'll be there after first light. You just stay put and be careful. I don't imagine you'll want to have your avatar sleep?"

"With no one to watch my back? No, I'll just have to stay awake. See you in the morning." He clicked off and tried to make himself as comfortable as possible. It was a very long night. There was just enough noise to keep him awake. At one point he heard something big moving around below him and he got his bow ready, but it moved on without bothering him. Nothing much grew in the shadow of the great tree so there was very little of the usual bioluminescence to let him see. But eventually the morning light began to seep in and not long after that he heard the rotors of Trudy's copter approaching.

[Scene Break]

Grace watched Jake sprint toward the helicopter. The tree and its location did have a lot of similarities to the Omaticaya's Hometree. They had made a brief scouting trip here two days earlier, but the whole point of Jake dragging Neytiri here was to get her opinion of the spot and broach the subject of a relocation. Apparently, it had not gone well. Jake climbed aboard and Trudy lifted off. "Where to now?" she asked.

"Hometree," replied Grace. She turned to Jake. "What happened?" She was driving her own avatar and they were eye to eye.

He shrugged. "Just like I already told you: she figured out what's going on and took off. So what do we do now?"

"Well we can get back to Hometree long before she can. I guess our best bet is to try and talk to her before she can tell everything to Eytukan and Mo'at. I mean we'll have to talk to them eventually, but if we can do it in a calm, controlled fashion it would be a lot better."

"You think she'll even listen?"

"She'll have had a full day to cool off and think about things. Like you said: she's not stupid. She realizes what could happen if there's a war. She'll want to avoid that as much as we do."

"I hope you're right. She's hell on wheels when she gets riled up."

"Don't I know it!" Neytiri had been as good a student as her sister, but so headstrong! She knew that someday she would take over being the Tsahik for her people from her mother and her sense of duty and responsibility was downright frightening at times. She was as hard as steel on some issues. Could she be made to bend—even a little—on an issue this important?

The helicopter skimmed over the tops of the lesser trees. She kept glancing down, but the chance of spotting Neytiri was tiny. It was only a few minutes before Hometree came into sight. A chill went through her when she thought of it crashing down in smoke and flames. The vision was so clear and intense she gasped and clutched the door frame of the helicopter. Jake noticed immediately.

"You all right?"

"Yes. Yes, but we have to find a way to prevent… to prevent a war."

"Yeah. But how? I can't see either side backing down." Grace didn't answer. Trudy brought the copter in for a landing on the spot about 500 meters away from Hometree that was reserved for them. Grace's avatar wasn't permitted to stay overnight, so they allowed her to be shuttled in and out each day. She and Jake debarked and Trudy headed back to the Shack to refuel. None of the Omaticaya were paying any special attention to them and she relaxed slightly as they walked toward the tree.

"I know the trail that we took going out," said Jake, pointing off to the west. "She'll probably come back that same way. We could intercept her and try to talk before she can talk to anyone else."

"That's a good idea. But maybe you should go and do that while I stay here in case she comes by a different route. Whichever of us finds her first can call the other and we can meet." Jake agreed to this and trotted off slowly. His avatar was probably getting pretty tired by now. The Na'vi had incredible stamina, but the avatar drivers got hammered from both ends: Their human bodies weren't really asleep during the link and became fatigued as well.

Grace spent the morning as she usually did: talking with the children and observing the activities of the adults. The children were the only ones who would talk to her. Despite being let back in, the adults didn't really see her. She was an outsider: tolerated, but not trusted. She kept watching for Neytiri and she checked in with Jake periodically, but there was no sign of her. By afternoon they were both getting worried.

"Something's wrong," said Jake over the com. "Even if she stopped somewhere during the night, she ought to be back by now."

"Unless she felt bad about stranding you and went back to that tree. She might be looking for _you_, Jake."

"Shit, hadn't thought of that."

"I'll call Trudy. She and Norm can make a fast hop over to the tree and look for her. They can leave a message and still be back before dark."

"Can she read?"

"Well enough for something like that." She made the call and was amused at the irritation in Norm's voice. She had no doubt that she had interrupted the two of them. But they agreed to get going as soon as they could. An hour and half later they called to say there was no sign of Neytiri at the tree. She reported this to Jake. "You better come back, you must be ready to fall asleep on your feet."

"Yeah, but what the hell am I going to tell them here when I show up without her?"

"I think it's time to get some more people looking, Jake. Come on back."

"Right." Half an hour later he arrived and they went straight to Eytukan. He was not pleased.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"We… uh, got separated," said Jake. "I got a ride back on the helicopter. I felt sure she would be back before now." Jake's Na'vi wasn't up to the task so Grace translated for him. Eytukan still pretended like she wasn't there, never looking directly at her.

"You should have come to me sooner! It is too close to night to send out the Ikrans now. She will have to spend another night alone in the forest." Mo'at and Tsu'tey had come up by this time and it all had to be explained again.

"This alien has abandoned her?" snarled Tsu'tey pointing at Jake.

"Hardly abandoned!" protested Grace. "She knows the forest better than any of us! You can hardly expect Jake to have gone looking for her alone." They grudgingly accepted the truth of that.

"We will send out searchers and her ikran in the morning," said Eytukan.

"Your help will not be needed," added Tsu'tey. Grace and Jake locked eyes and nodded slightly. They would be helping whether they were wanted or not.

Jake immediately went to the sleeping hammocks and Grace met Trudy and Norm at the landing area. They all needed to get some rest. She suspected it would be a long day tomorrow.

[Scene Break]

Jake was up and linked before dawn. Hometree was soon a beehive of activity. A skirmish line of horsemen would fan out on the ground while the ikran riders would search from above. Jake climbed up to the ikran roost out of curiosity even though he was not a rider yet. Eytukan was there along with Tsu'tey, organizing the search parties. They both seemed worried. A father searching for his daughter and a man searching for his future mate, no wonder neither one was happy with him. He tried to stay out of the way, but he was drawn forward when he saw them getting Neytiri's ikran ready for flight. "I thought they would only fly with the person they are bonded to," he said to Tsu'Tey.

"Yes. But the bond remains even when the pair are apart," he replied. "Seze will fly to Neytiri if we can get him aloft."

"Really?" Jake said in surprise. "They can sense each other over a distance?"

"Yes," snapped Tsu'Tey. "Now stop bothering me."

Jake didn't say anything else, but he waited his chance and then slipped his computer pad into a small bag attached to the ikran's harness. A short while later Tsu'Tey and several others pushed the squawking beast off the limb. It screeched and then circled around for a while and then turned west. The other Na'vi gave a shout and mounted their own ikrans and took off in pursuit. Jake immediately hurried down the tree.

The helicopter was just landing as he reached the bottom. He sprinted over to meet Grace and Norm, both in their avatars. "So what's the plan?" asked Norm.

"Whatever it was, it just changed," replied Jake as he bundled them back into the copter. "According to Tsu'tey, Neytiri's ikran can find her like a homing pigeon. They've turned it loose and they are following it. We're going to follow, too."

"How?" demanded Trudy. "I don't see any banshees now. Which way did they go?"

"Just call up the locater in my pad," smiled Jake. "I snuck it onto the banshee."

"Good going!" cried Grace. "Come on!" She seemed very anxious and she was clutching a large box.

"What's that?' asked Jake.

"Trauma kit for an avatar. It will work just as well on a Na'vi. I hope to hell we won't need it."

Trudy applied power to the rotors and the copter lifted off in a spray of dust. "I've got the signal," she cried. "About ten klicks west and moving fast." She spun her ship around and the acceleration pressed them back into their seats.

"Tsu'tey said the ikran can find her because of their bond," said Jake. "If it's going to her that must mean she's still alive."

"We can hope," replied Grace. "We don't know enough about this to draw any conclusions—but I hope you're right."

Trudy pushed the copter to its top speed and they were quickly closing on Neytiri's ikran, but before it came into sight, she called out. "It's going down! About three klicks dead ahead!" Jake leaned out the side door and he could see a small swarm of ikrans and their riders spiraling down over a patch of forest.

"They must have found her!" he cried in relief.

"So what do you want me to do?" said Trudy. "Forest looks pretty thick."

"Can you find a way down there?"

"Yeah, yeah, expect me to perform miracles again," she grumbled, but she slowed the copter and then headed down near where they had last seen the others. With expert hands, Trudy slipped past branches, between hanging vines and around tree trunks until they were in a relatively open space under the forest canopy maybe twenty meters off the ground. A number of ikrans were flapping about or clinging to trees and just beyond…

"Oh _shit_!" snarled Jake.

The sleek black shape of a thanator paced back and forth at the far edge of a clearing. The huge predator, kin of the one that had nearly killed Jake on his first trip outside of the Hell's Gate base, snapped angrily at the Omaticaya hunters who were gathering around the other sides of the clearing. Neytiri's ikran clung to the side of a tree and screeched.

"There! Look, she's got to be in there!" He could just make out the mangled remains of a horse on the ground, but the tree Seze was on was a big one and its roots spread out to form a little cave-like space at the base. Jake had tried to hide in a similar one, but the tree hadn't been big enough and the roots were too weak. This one was stronger. He could see places where the thanator had been tearing at the roots, but there weren't any large holes. Neytiri must be in there!

Jake could see Eytukan giving direction to his people, but they were moving very warily. Enough arrows might bring down the enormous beast, but it was sure to charge as soon as they started shooting. Without some sort of refuge whoever it went after was sure to be killed. The space was too confined for an ikran 'strafing run'. A few of the Na'vi were waving angrily at the helicopter: the situation was complicated enough without an unknown factor like that.

"So what do we do?" said Norm. "Open up with the machine guns?"

"MGs won't stop that thing," said Jake, "they'll only make it mad. And the damn thing can jump twenty-five meters in the air so don't think we're safe up here."

"I could take a shot with the missiles," said Trudy, "but if Neytiri is where you think she is, that's too damn close. I could end up killing her, too. And I don't have any other angle as long as it stays where it is."

"Then we'll just have to get it to move," said Jake. "Take me lower and then get ready, Trudy." He picked up the Na'vi-sized machine gun and checked to make sure it was ready.

"Jake, what are you going to do?" demanded Grace.

"Watch me and see," he replied and then jumped out of the copter.

"Jake!"

He hit the ground and rolled and was on his feet in an instant. He ran past the stunned Omaticaya hunters into the open ground. The thanator froze when it saw him. "Yeah, that's right!" he called. "Your cousin almost got me the other day. But this time I've got friends with me. Come and get me!" He brought the gun up to his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The gun slammed against him as he stitched a line of bullets down the thanator's flank. It screamed and immediately charged. Jake dropped the gun and ran, cutting across the clearing toward a large fallen tree trunk. "Trudy, don't miss," he prayed.

He was only ten meters from the tree and he was expecting to feel thanator fangs in his back any moment when he heard the roar of the missile launchers. He flung himself forward and dove over the trunk and curled into a ball. An instant later four massive explosions shook the world, slamming against his body like a giant fist. A blast of heat washed past and something hot and sharp stung his left leg. He sprawled on the ground, ears ringing, as a cloud of smoke drifted by.

There was a long moment of silence and then high-pitched Na'vi shouts erupted. Jake staggered to his feet and peered over the tree trunk. What was left of the thantor was strewn about the clearing a few meters away. It had been torn nearly in two and was very, very dead. Patches of burning grass flared here and there and large chunks of shrapnel were imbedded in the wood that had sheltered him. Too damn close! Trudy was landing the copter in the middle of the clearing and she grinned and gave him a 'thumbs-up' through the canopy.

Even before the copter was down, Grace jumped out of the door and sprinted toward the tree where they hoped Neytiri was hiding. Norm was right behind her with the trauma kit. Jake clambered over the tree trunk and tottered after them. "Neytiri!" he croaked.

There were several Omaticaya by the tree when he got there, but they parted and let him pass. Grace and Norm had already squeezed through an opening and disappeared. He pushed in after them…

…and froze.

Neytiri was laying on the ground, not moving; in the dim light he couldn't tell if she was breathing. Her right leg was torn open from hip to knee and the ground was stained dark with her blood. She'd tried to make a bandage from grass and leaves, but it had partially fallen off and was as soaked as the ground. "Oh, God, no…" he hissed.

Grace was standing over her, shaking like a leaf. "No… not again_. Not again!_" Her voice rose to a scream and then suddenly she was tearing open the trauma kit, hauling out equipment. Her hands flew from one item to another: stimulant injector, spray-on bandage, plasma drip, she worked like someone possessed. Norm managed to get hold of a medical scanner and ran it over Neytiri.

"She's still alive!" he cried. "Readings very weak and erratic, but she's still alive!"

Jake was gasping in relief when he was roughly pushed aside. Tsu'tey and Eytukan were there. "What are you doing to her?" demanded Tsu'tey.

"Saving her life!" snapped Jake. "Just stand back and let her work!" The young Na'vi turned on him but Eytukan took hold of his shoulder and pulled him back and said something Jake couldn't follow. Tsu'tey subsided and then went and squatted down next to Grace. She didn't even notice him.

Grace continued to work for the next hour, using one thing after another. She was giving a running commentary under her breath, but it soon became clear that she wasn't talking to any of them. Jake didn't know who she was talking to. Norm dutifully called off the medical readings, but Jake wasn't sure if Grace was hearing that, either.

Finally Neytiri's readings started to stabilize. The incredibly tough Na'vi physiology was at work. Grace slowed down and looked around with a startled expression like she'd just woken out of an uneasy dream. "I… I think we can move her now," she mumbled. "Get the stretcher from the chopper." Norm scrambled up to comply.

"Where are we taking her?" asked Jake. "Hell's Gate?"

"No!" cried Tsu'tay. "You will not take her there!"

"But…"

"It's all right, Jake," said Grace. "We don't need to operate or anything. There's nothing they can do for her there that we can't do here. Let's get her home."

Norm came back with the stretcher which he unfolded next to Neytiri. They gently shifted her on to it. She stirred and cried out a little, but didn't wake up. Then they found they had to take her off it again to get her out through the narrow opening. It was very awkward, but eventually they had her outside without shaking her around too much. They got her back on the stretcher but then had to argue with Tsu'tey about putting her in the helicopter.

"We can get her back to Hometree faster than an ikran can fly!" snapped Jake in exasperation. "And she can't ride an ikran! It would take a day at least trying to carry her across country. She needs rest and quiet _now_!"

"There's room for you on the helicopter, Tsu'tey," said Grace. "You don't have to leave her."

At this point Eytukan intervened and it was decided: Neytiri would go by helicopter. Ikran riders were already on their way to get things ready.

As they carried her toward the chopper, Eytukan grasped Jake's shoulder and pointed toward the thanator. "Thank you," he said.

[Scene Break]

For the next week Grace tended Neytiri high on a platform in Hometree. Mo'at stayed close by but somehow she neither interfered with nor objected to Grace's care of her daughter. Day by day Neytiri got stronger. On the fourth day she woke up enough to recognize people and understand where she was.

"Grace," she whispered. "What happened to me?"

"You were attacked by a thanator, dear. You were very nearly killed. But we found you and brought you home. How do you feel?"

"Strange. Very tired and sleepy but not… normal sleepiness. And my leg, my leg feels… I don't know."

"Your leg was badly clawed, but it will heal. What you're feeling are the medicines to help you mend and to dull the pain."

"Where… where is Jake?"

"Oh, he's around somewhere. He helped save you by drawing away the thantor. He's been very worried about you. We all have."

"I remember… being angry with him." A puzzled frown crossed her face and Grace looked around uneasily. Neytiri was in no condition to have to deal with the whole relocation issue!

"You need to rest. Here drink a little water and then sleep again." To her relief, she did as she was told.

But the next day when she woke up she said to Grace: "I remember why I was angry with Jake. I want to talk to my father."

"Oh, Neytiri, we all need to talk, but you aren't strong enough for that yet. Please wait just a few days and then we will all talk about it." Neytiri looked ready to argue. "Please. I can't expect you to trust me, but please wait just a few more days and then we'll all talk." Grace had no idea what good a few more days delay would do, but she couldn't face the inevitable confrontation right now.

After a long pause Neytiri finally nodded. "Two days," she said.

On that second day Grace bowed to the inevitable. She called for Mo'at and Eytukan and Tsu'tey . She'd already warned Jake and Norm to be ready. In the wake of Neytiri's rescue, Norm had been allowed to come to Hometree and he'd spent nearly every daylight hour there since. Grace shooed away everyone else from the platform. The last thing she wanted was a riot when the truth came out. Eventually everyone was there except Eytukan. Tsu'tey squatted next to Neytiri and held her hand. It had always seemed to Grace that the two of them, destined to become mates for years, always took each other for granted, but since Neytiri's near-death, Tsu'tey had become much more attentive. Perhaps one good thing would come from this mess.

Grace went over to Jake. "I'm not sure how this is going to go. I still can't really speak here and your Na'vi sucks. Try to use Norm to translate as much as you can."

"But what the hell do I say?" protested Jake. "You know what happened when I tried to talk to Neytiri."

"Well, she can't run away this time. We're just going to have to do our best and see what happens. At least we can…"

"Graceaugustine."

Grace spun around and to her astonishment Eytukan was standing there. He was looking right at her! He raised a hand to his forehead and spoke: "I see you, Graceaugustine."

Time seemed to stand still. She looked into his eyes and he looked back. _He saw her_! She brought a trembling hand to her own head and replied. "Eytukan, Olo'eyktan of the Omaticaya, I see you." Then she fell to her knees. "And I beg forgiveness for the hurt I have caused you and yours."

He stared at her for a long moment and then stepped forward. He leaned over and grasped her shoulders and raised her to her feet. "One life taken, one life given back. The balance has been restored. You are welcome here."

The feeling of relief, of joy, that spread through her was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. But then the reason for this meeting came back to her and she nearly collapsed again. Instead, she said: "Eytukan, unless many more lives are to be taken, we must talk and find the wisdom to avoid war."

[Scene Break]

The meeting had been going on for an hour and Jake was amazed that it hadn't broken up in violence yet. Hot-headed Tsu'tey had nearly drawn his weapon a dozen times, but each time Neytiri had restrained him. Indeed, Neytiri had been the voice of reason for the Omaticaya. Her helpless, wounded body seemed to make her stronger than all the others combined. When she spoke, all stopped to hear her words. He was just glad that with Grace accepted again he could leave most of the talking to her!

"But why should we leave our home?" demanded Mo'at "The home that has been ours for generations! Why should we leave just to allow the Sky People to dig in the ground for rocks? _Rocks_!"

"We know it is not just," said Grace. "But we have no choice."

"But why? You claim to be our friends and I do believe you in that. But if you are our friends, why do you not stop the other Sky People?"

"It is hard to explain," said Grace, shaking her head. "We do not command the Sky People leaders, rather, they command us. Eytukan, when you speak as Olo'eyktan not all agree with your every word, but they obey, do they not? They obey because you are Olo'eyktan and someone must lead the People."

"Yes, that is so," said Eytukan.

"So it is with us. Our leaders have commanded that we persuade you to move so they can dig for the rocks. If we did not obey they would send someone else to talk to you—or even worse just resort to war. And even the Sky People leaders at Hells' Gate are not free to act as they wish. A great… council of clan leaders on the Sky People's home world have commanded them to get as many of the rocks as they can. They are sworn to obey those commands and must do so. I regret this with all my heart, but I can do nothing to change the will of this great council."

"Then we will fight you!" shouted Tsu'tey. "We do not fear you!"

"But perhaps we should," said Neytiri. "You have told me what the Sky People weapons did to the thanator. Can all our bravery match what they did?" Tsu'tey frowned but said nothing more.

"And what you saw were not even their most powerful weapons," said Grace. "They have ones that are far more powerful than what you saw. If war comes, the Sky People war leader will not hesitate to use those weapons against the People. Eytukan, it is the duty of any leader to protect his people. Sometimes the best way is to have the courage not to fight."

"And the Sky People will help you move," said Jake. "Their helicopters can carry heavy loads, much heavier than your horses or ikrans can carry. You do not need to leave anything you value behind."

"Except Hometree itself," said Mo'at. "Your machines cannot carry that! You ask too much and give too little." Jake bowed his head. He had no answer to that.

"It's a shame that Selfridge can't see Hometree for himself," said Norm, speaking up suddenly. "He doesn't realize what he's asking you to give up. I didn't realize it myself until you let me explore this place. There are other locations around here with unobtainium deposits. Maybe not as rich as the one under Hometree, but still enough to meet his damn production quotas."

"Norm, he's never going to change his mind," said Jake.

"What have we got to lose by asking?"

"Eytukan," said Grace with sudden urgency. "Would you allow that? Would you allow us to bring our leader here to see your home? Perhaps we could make him understand."

"But you said that he was sworn to obey the commands of a great council," said Eytukan. "Would he break his word for our sake?"

"The council is very far away. Sending messages takes a very long time. Administrator Selfridge has some freedom to make decisions, though he must answer for them later. There is at least a chance that he might agree to dig somewhere else."

"Father, what harm can come of letting this person come here and see our home?" asked Neytiri. "For too long both we and the Sky People have been strangers to each other."

Eytukan pondered this for quite some time while everyone waited. Finally he nodded his head. "So be it. Bring him here and let him see."

[Scene Break]

Grace watched the helicopter land. She was still amazed that Selfridge had agreed to come. She'd only suggested this because the meeting was going badly and she hoped to give people a chance to cool down and think before they went to the next round. But against all her expectations Selfridge had agreed. The rotors on the helicopter whined to a halt and Selfridge stepped out. Colonel Quaritch was with him along with two security troopers. They were all armed, but that had hardly been an unreasonable demand considering they would be surrounded by hundreds of Na'vi who routinely carried weapons. Grace walked over to them and smiled. She wasn't driving her avatar today and neither was Norm. Jake was, of course, since he really had no choice.

"Good morning, Parker. Welcome to Hometree. Thank you so much for coming." She held out her hand and he took it.

Selfridge looked up at the immense tree towering overhead. "This really is… something, isn't it?" He looked genuinely impressed. "It's even bigger than the one we saw yesterday." They had shown Selfridge the possible relocation tree so he could see just how much the Omaticaya would really be giving up.

"Wait until you see inside," said Grace. "Please, everyone, come this way, the Omaticaya are waiting to welcome you." She led the way to the base of the tree. Hundreds of Na'vi were gathered around and many of them sang a beautiful song of greeting. Several of the children—man-high to a human—came forward and put wreaths of flowers around the necks of the guests. Then they were presented to Eytukan and Mo'at who welcomed them graciously, but in a dignified manner. They had talked at length about how best to appear friendly but not subservient. Grace thought they pulled it off well.

Then the tour began. It took most of the day because even in the low gravity, Selfridge couldn't scamper up the three-hundred meter tall tree like one of the natives. They took it in stages with long pauses at many points. Fortunately, he didn't seem to have any problem with heights. They showed him as much as they could and he seemed truly interested in what he was seeing. He even asked intelligent questions. Grace was amazed. Parker had shown so little interest before…

Finally, they ended up on the platform where Neytiri was recovering. She was still too weak to have accompanied them on the tour and lay on a bed of soft fern leaves. Grace looked anxiously at Selfridge. He looked very thoughtful. He turned to face her.

"Grace, I want to apologize. I thought the Na'vi were just a bunch of ignorant savages, but I was wrong. They might not have starships, but these are _people_. We have no right to take their home from them. I'll give orders to relocate the new mine."

Grace gasped, stunned to the core of her being. Was he serious? He'd spare Hometree? Avoid a war? Was this long nightmare of hers really over?

"Sorry, sir, can't let ya do that."

They spun around and Miles Quaritch was standing there. The man hadn't said a word during the whole tour, but now he was there with a strange grin on his face and twirling his pistol on his finger.

"What do you mean, Colonel?" asked Selfridge.

"Oh, it just seems to me that you've let these savages warp your judgment. You're not thinkin' straight. 'Fraid I just can't let ya relocate the mine."

Anger boiled up inside Grace and she found herself saying: "How are you going to stop us, Ranger Rick? Shoot us?"

Quaritch's smile grew broader. "I can do that," he said.

And he did.

The pistol roared and a spike of pure pain slammed into Grace's belly. She tried to scream, but she couldn't make a sound. She half doubled over, but did not fall.

Quaritch calmly turned and shot Norm in the head. Then Jake.

Everyone else was frozen. No one shouted or screamed or even moved. No rain of Na'vi arrows cut Quaritch down. Even his two escorts stood like statues.

He fired and fired and fired. Tsu'tey went down, Eytukan, Mo'at, each collapsed in a spray of blood. Then he turned and pointed the gun at Neytiri, lying on her bed.

"No… no…," moaned Grace. "Not again…" But the pain was growing and growing and a cloud of blackness was swirling in from all sides. She fell and the blackness swallowed her up.

[Scene Break]

"Grace, hang in there, Grace, we're almost there."

She hurt. Every part of her throbbed with a pain only slightly dulled by the drugs. The pain in her belly was the worst and every jerking motion made it grow.

"We're almost there, Grace." Someone was talking to her. It sounded like Jake. But Jake was dead. Wasn't he? No, that was just his avatar who was dead. But what…?

Her curiosity overcame her pain and she forced her eyes open. It was dark, but not black. She was resting in two blue arms. She moved her head slightly and could see the face of Jake's avatar through the mask of her exo-pack. _Not dead. How'd he manage that?_ A motion off to the side caught her attention. It was Norm in his avatar and he seemed to be carrying her own avatar in his arms. He wasn't dead, either. This was too much of a puzzle to solve. She closed her eyes and dozed.

Some time later she heard singing. Hundreds of Na'vi voices singing a beautiful song in praise of Eywa. Lovely, lovely…

"Look where we are, Grace."

Jake's voice again. Why wouldn't he shut up and let her sleep? But a faint glow on the other side of her eyelids demanded her notice and she opened them. Hundreds of glowing branches hung down from overhead. _The Tree of Souls._ She was so surprised that all she could think to say was: "I need to take some samples."

Jake was carrying her through a crowd of seated Na'vi toward the base of the great white tree. Neytiri was waiting for her there. So was Mo'at. No bandage wrapped Neytiri's leg and there wasn't a trace of a scar. No round, black hole marred Mo'at's forehead. What was going on…?

_It was a dream. It was all a dream, you idiot._

With that realization, despair filled her. No negotiations, no reprieve, no hope. Hometree came crashing down in smoke and flames yet again. Eytukan was dead, the Omaticaya were exiled. War. War was upon them. Death and more death. _No…_

Jake set her down by the tree. "Hang on Grace. They're gonna fix you up," he said.

_No, it's too late to fix anything. Too late… too late… too late…_

The singing grew louder and numbness filled her body. She couldn't feel her arms or legs and even the gunshot in her belly faded away. She was falling. Falling into a pool of light.

She floated, formless, weightless… She had no ears but a faint babble of voices came to her somehow. Hundreds, thousands of Na'vi voices. Young, old, male, female, they filled her. Slowly, slowly the voices fell silent until only one remained. Oddly, insanely, it was her own voice, her own words.

"This… is… unexpected. We… did… not… expect… _you_… here."

"Eywa?" She had no mouth, no vocal chords, but somehow she formed the word. "Eywa?" Who else could it be?

"So… we…are called by… some." The words, hesitant at first, were coming faster, more confidently now. "What… do you want?"

"Me? I… don't want anything."

"You misunderstand. Your… birth body fades. Only moments of life remain in it. Your… second body is nearby. Your friends pray to us to pass you through to it so you may live there. This is in our power. But what do _you_ want?"

"You can really do that?" said Grace in amazement. "Transfer me to my avatar? Completely? Permanently?"

"Yes."

The thought was incredible, dazzlingly appealing. Another chance! A chance to… what?

"You must decide quickly."

She almost said yes, almost shouted it. But what would she do with this second chance? What had she done with her first? "No. No, I can't. I can't…"

"You are certain? The chance will not come again."

"I failed. No, I didn't just fail, I didn't even try! Oh, forgive me, but I didn't even try!" The guilt, the paralyzing hopelessness that had filled her for months came rushing back. "I couldn't see any way out! The Omaticaya would never leave Hometree and nothing was going to stop Selfridge and Quaritch! There was going to be a war and there wasn't anything I could do to stop it!" She was sobbing now. "So I did _nothing_! I pretended it wasn't happening! I left it all to Jake! If I ignored it, maybe it would all go away! But it didn't and now so many are dead! So many more are going to die! And I didn't even try to stop it! I… I don't deserve a second chance. Let me die." Confession lifted a crushing weight from her soul. The right decision_… yes_.

"If this is your wish, so be it. You are welcome to stay here."

"Can… can I say good-bye to my friends?"

"Be quick. Moments only remain."

An instant of swirling vertigo and disorientation and she was back in her human body with the Tree of Souls overhead. She raised up her hand. "Jake?"

And Jake was there holding it. "Grace?"

She wanted to say good-bye to all of them. To apologize for her failure. Try to explain. But the world was fading away and all she could manage was: "I'm with Her, Jake. She's real!" And then she was back in the pool of light.

"It is done," said Eywa.

"I wish that I could have… I wish I could have done something to save them."

"Fear not. Even now our champion rallies the People. It will be well."

Grace had no idea what she meant, but a feeling of peace passed through her. The pain, the fear, the anguish all flowed away and dissolved like smoke. The world could get by without her.

"So… so now what?" If this was the afterlife it looked to get boring after a while…

"We see the love you hold for our world, Graceaugustine. All of it is now open to you." The pool of light faded and suddenly she was soaring high above the Pandoran forest. Polyphemous hung huge in the sky with several of its other moons casting shadows on its face. Wings cut the air on either side of her. An Ikran? She was riding an Ikran like a Na'vi? No! She _was_ an ikran! She could feel its heart beating, its lungs breathing, the wind on its wings! Before she could even grasp it, the scene shifted and she was among a pack of viperwolves stalking a hexapede. Another shift and she was a… bug? Scuttling along the branch of a tree. Again and she was in cold, dark waters, some sea creature she couldn't begin to identify. Faster and faster, the scene shifted. One creature after another until it was all a dizzying blur.

"Oh! Oh!" she gasped and suddenly she was back in the pool of light. She could feel Eywa beside her. Amused?

"That was… too much at once," said Grace.

"You will grow used to it with time,' said Eywa. Yes, definitely amused. "But perhaps you would find a guide helpful."

Grace sensed someone else approaching. She could see nothing but the light, but there was definitely someone else here…

"Aunt Grace?"

Was it? Could it be? "S-Silwanin?"

"Aunt Grace!"

"Silwanin!"

Non-existent eyes flowed with tears. Immaterial arms embraced. Unimaginable joy filled her. "Oh, Silwanin!"

They stayed like that, swirling around and through each other, for she didn't know how long, but eventually Silwanin drew aside and beckoned.

"Come with me, Aunt Grace… We are going to have so much _fun_!"

THE END


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